Bank of America in Santa Cruz. Image from http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/08/18692743.php

Two protesters involved with Occupy Santa Cruz in California walked into Bank of America earlier this week to close their own accounts as part of the national protest against the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street, which has only seen it’s profits soar since it nearly collapsed the economy back in 2008.

So Bank of America naturally closed the accounts, right? Not even close. Rather than allow their customers to close their accounts, they told them that “you can not be a protester and a customer at the same time.” The bank manager threatened to lock the doors and call the police to have their own customers arrested for the simple act of requesting the closure of their own accounts. The two women left the bank and called the police. The officer went into the bank and after talking to the manager, relayed a message to them. According to the bank manager, “If they came in with the signs and they were part of the protest earlier, then they are protesters and cannot be customers at the same time.”

Watch it:

Apparently, it is now a crime to close your bank account if it’s located at one of the big banks that nearly crashed the American economy. Just today, Citibank locked in their own customers and had them arrested for trying to close their own accounts. Just another reason why you should close your account if it’s in any big bank that hurt the economy and put your money in a small bank or a credit union. Banks are just looking for ANY excuse to keep the money they have in their banks. It shouldn’t matter if these folks are protesters or not. If you walk into a bank and request that your account be closed, the bank should give you your money and close the account. These banks are illegally holding the money these customers deposited, and they are willing to have their own customers arrested rather than give up money they want to gamble with. The police are arresting the wrong people.